Excessive insurance cancellation fees
Discussion
Hi all, after a bit of advice where to go with this.
I took out insurance cover 07/09/2016, I need 4x tyres the standard size is 225/55/17 which are limited for choice and quite expensive. I found out that 225/65/17 fit, there is more choice and they are cheaper but as they are not standard fitment I asked the insurance co who said I wouldn't be insured. I am also getting a remap and they wouldn't cover this either.
I have found an insurer who will cover me with the changes for £50 more the my current insurance co. Today I cancelled the insurance and paid £135.64 fee to do so.
Having now checked I paid a £54.57 deposit 07/09/2016 a DD payment of £55.45 07/10/2016 and £135.64 in fees today, total for 1 months cover £245.66 on a policy costing £534.97.
I have made a complaint and requested a breakdown of their fees along with justification and await with interest.
Anyone with experience of this or any advice welcome.
Many thanks
I took out insurance cover 07/09/2016, I need 4x tyres the standard size is 225/55/17 which are limited for choice and quite expensive. I found out that 225/65/17 fit, there is more choice and they are cheaper but as they are not standard fitment I asked the insurance co who said I wouldn't be insured. I am also getting a remap and they wouldn't cover this either.
I have found an insurer who will cover me with the changes for £50 more the my current insurance co. Today I cancelled the insurance and paid £135.64 fee to do so.
Having now checked I paid a £54.57 deposit 07/09/2016 a DD payment of £55.45 07/10/2016 and £135.64 in fees today, total for 1 months cover £245.66 on a policy costing £534.97.
I have made a complaint and requested a breakdown of their fees along with justification and await with interest.
Anyone with experience of this or any advice welcome.
Many thanks
desolate said:
the calculation of the return premium will be explained in the policy book.
the cancellation fees will be explained in the letter from the broker if you used one.
If these all tally up then you are struggling, if they don't add up then you will get the difference back.
Thanks, one of the fees was for breakdown cover at £90 for the year, they've said as it was an extra they have to charge the full amount. This seems to be standard practice, although I wasn't given the option of keeping the breakdown cover even though I have paid for it for the full year! So it seems I have paid a years worth of breakdown cover but as I have cancelled the insurance I can't use it, this is surely unfair practice?the cancellation fees will be explained in the letter from the broker if you used one.
If these all tally up then you are struggling, if they don't add up then you will get the difference back.
I understand the deposit I paid would cover me for the first month but what about the DD taken yesterday, I wonder what that covers, on the face of it 1 days worth of cover.
Seems like cancelling your policy is a licence to print money.
KrazyIvan said:
Off topic i know
But a quick search on oponeo of that tire size returned 248 products in a price range from Euro 48 (from some never knew existed company) up to euro 220 from the usual suspects. so a bit surprised you seem to having trouble finding suitable rubber, for what is actually a fairly common size.
It's an AT tyre I want which narrows things down a bitBut a quick search on oponeo of that tire size returned 248 products in a price range from Euro 48 (from some never knew existed company) up to euro 220 from the usual suspects. so a bit surprised you seem to having trouble finding suitable rubber, for what is actually a fairly common size.
Edit: Just done a search on Oponeo 7 results for 225/55/17 and 63 results for the 65 profile
Edited by Simon_m on Saturday 8th October 17:18
KevinCamaroSS said:
the 65 profile tyres are over 6% greater in circumference thus you will also need to re-calibrate your speedometer as it will be over 6% under-reading, rather too much for my tastes.
I'll live with that, now worries about speed cameras as I always use sat nav. The added extra MPG will be welcome too.Edited by Simon_m on Saturday 8th October 18:18
So I have checked their terms of cancellation and the below is all I can find both on their website and in the policy documents.
Cancelling more than 14 days into your policy
- £50
If you cancel more than 14 days into your policy, there is a £50 cancellation fee. We will refund you any outstanding days of cover, less the cancellation fee and the original £50 arrangement fee.
The call handler stated they would waive the £50 cancellation fee as it was they who could not provide cover due to modifications.
So by my reckoning they are within their rights to not refund the £50 arrangement fee and the days I was covered which I have calculated as £46.90. Giving a total of £96.90. It will be interesting to see what the other £148.76 of fees are made up of.
Cancelling more than 14 days into your policy
- £50
If you cancel more than 14 days into your policy, there is a £50 cancellation fee. We will refund you any outstanding days of cover, less the cancellation fee and the original £50 arrangement fee.
The call handler stated they would waive the £50 cancellation fee as it was they who could not provide cover due to modifications.
So by my reckoning they are within their rights to not refund the £50 arrangement fee and the days I was covered which I have calculated as £46.90. Giving a total of £96.90. It will be interesting to see what the other £148.76 of fees are made up of.
Still waiting for a breakdown of fees. The chap I spoke to today couldn't be specific on the costs other than one was for £90, the cost of a years breakdown cover...
When queried why I couldn't use the cover the answer was "Because we've cancelled it"
I asked if he felt it was legal to charge me for a service and then deny me the service by cancelling it, the answer "we haven't charged you though as it was paid monthly as an extra £9 per month" So what was the £90 for? "The cost to cancel the breakdown cover"
It would seem I have been charged £108 for breakdown cover for a year but can't use it as they cancelled it as soon as I paid for it?
The conversation went on for nearly an hour with many more unanswered questions and a load of smoke and mirrors.
Financial Ombudsman has been involved.
When queried why I couldn't use the cover the answer was "Because we've cancelled it"
I asked if he felt it was legal to charge me for a service and then deny me the service by cancelling it, the answer "we haven't charged you though as it was paid monthly as an extra £9 per month" So what was the £90 for? "The cost to cancel the breakdown cover"
It would seem I have been charged £108 for breakdown cover for a year but can't use it as they cancelled it as soon as I paid for it?
The conversation went on for nearly an hour with many more unanswered questions and a load of smoke and mirrors.
Financial Ombudsman has been involved.
Vaud said:
You should go through the companies official complaints procedure and escalations first.
And/or do a top down email (short and sweet) to the company CEO.
Complaint lodged by phone and email to the company. If you'd have listened to the farcical conversations I've had you'd understand why I have escalated this.And/or do a top down email (short and sweet) to the company CEO.
Vaud said:
Super. But the regulator will want to know that you have exhausted their complaint process first.
Have I not already? I was specifically told complaints are dealt with in a maximum of 48 hours and that I would receive a reply today, I haven't.They have now changed their tune and stated the department dealing with these issues are not customer facing and I will be dealt with when my name is next in line. Time frame unknown
I was honest with them because knowingly making a none standard change to the vehicle and not declaring it doesn't sit well with me. Based on this they chose not to insure me. This is not the point of this post though. We can go through how the premium doesn't equate to monthly payments x12 or that monthly payments are for finance not the premium etc.
The facts are I have paid almost half of the premium for 1 months cover due to what I feel are excessive fees. As yet I am still unaware of exactly what the fees are. I have been charged a full years price for breakdown cover but I'm unable to use it. I may or may not get back the extra months paymemt I made.
It's beyond belief these companies feel they can get away with this sort of behaviour. I could possibly take it on the chin if it was some unknown, but these lot are heavily advertised on the comparison sites. Reading the many bad reviews, they all seem to relate to people who have cancelled the policy and been charged extortionate fees to do so.
The facts are I have paid almost half of the premium for 1 months cover due to what I feel are excessive fees. As yet I am still unaware of exactly what the fees are. I have been charged a full years price for breakdown cover but I'm unable to use it. I may or may not get back the extra months paymemt I made.
It's beyond belief these companies feel they can get away with this sort of behaviour. I could possibly take it on the chin if it was some unknown, but these lot are heavily advertised on the comparison sites. Reading the many bad reviews, they all seem to relate to people who have cancelled the policy and been charged extortionate fees to do so.
kfest, much like most of this subforum.After much frustration, today I sent a very simple email as follows, policy details etc removed but you get the gist:
Please provide the following within 2 working days of this email:
1: The total paid by me during the policy.
2: The costs incurred by you to administer the policy
3: A breakdown of the cancellation fees.
Within the hour I had a response saying my complaint had been upheld and I would receive a refund for the breakdown cover and also the extra DD that was taken.
So I'm now nearly £150 better off!
The daily costs were calculated by taking the full amount repayble including the interest charge and dividing by 365
Please provide the following within 2 working days of this email:
1: The total paid by me during the policy.
2: The costs incurred by you to administer the policy
3: A breakdown of the cancellation fees.
Within the hour I had a response saying my complaint had been upheld and I would receive a refund for the breakdown cover and also the extra DD that was taken.
So I'm now nearly £150 better off!
The daily costs were calculated by taking the full amount repayble including the interest charge and dividing by 365
Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff